British terror victim in Israel - A mother's journey
Joe | 10.07.2004 19:52 | Terror War
A film on ITV on Sunday about the murder of Yoni Jesner in a suicide bombing, gives some hope to the future for the people of the Middle East.
A Mother's Journey
The mother of a Scottish teenager killed in a terror attack in Israel has expressed her hope that a film of her meeting the Palestinian recipient of his kidney “will cause some good to come of it.”
Glaswegian Marsha Gladstone, whose 19-year-old son Yoni Jesner was killed almost two years ago in a suicide bus bombing in Tel Aviv, told TJ: “I hope viewers will realise it all boils down to the fact that ordinary people suffer in this conflict. I hope some good might come of it now this Palestinian family has a good feelings towards a Jewish family.”
The programme, A Mother’s Journey, part of ITV1’s Real Life series, will be broadcast on Sunday night. Viewers will see Marsha at the Ramallah home of eight-year old Yasmin Rumeilah, a desperately ill little girl who was given a new lease of life after receiving Yoni’s kidney.
Recalling the emotional meeting last October at the family home just yards from Yasser Arafat’s compound, Marsha said: “Her mother and I hugged. It was a mixture of my loss and her gain mingling together. We both cried. It was the only time I cried in public during the filming.
"The father was so emotional he had to keep leaving the room. They treated me like the queen of England. They’re really grateful. Yasmin is very shy so we didn’t hug. But she keeps a picture of Yoni next to her bed. She calls him her brother.”
The family also keeps a large picture of Yoni superimposed next to Yasmin’s in the living room.
The documentary uses family photos, interviews and home movies to the tell the story of Marsha’s son who dreamed of becoming a doctor.
During two weeks of filming, Marsha revisited the spot of the fatal attack and met the doctors who worked fruitlessly to save Yoni’s life. She said they reaffirmed for her that there was nothing that could have been done to save him.
Marsha said she didn’t have the “guts” to revisit Yoni’s murder on her own, but the film handed her the opportunity. She said: “The production crew arranged all the visits and protected me. It was therapeutic.”
She was eager to participate in the hour-long documentary to help keep Yoni’s memory alive. “He’s lost forever, but people will now know a little about him. I wanted to have something tangible for the future to show my daughter and the children who will come along in the next generation.”
Though she hasn’t been in touch with the Rumeliahs since the meeting, Marsha hopes to reconnect with the family after the program airs.
“I hope my other children will meet them one day. I want my daughter and Yasmin, who are close in age, to be pen pals.”
A Mother’s Journey will be shown on Sunday at 10:45 on ITV1.
The mother of a Scottish teenager killed in a terror attack in Israel has expressed her hope that a film of her meeting the Palestinian recipient of his kidney “will cause some good to come of it.”
Glaswegian Marsha Gladstone, whose 19-year-old son Yoni Jesner was killed almost two years ago in a suicide bus bombing in Tel Aviv, told TJ: “I hope viewers will realise it all boils down to the fact that ordinary people suffer in this conflict. I hope some good might come of it now this Palestinian family has a good feelings towards a Jewish family.”
The programme, A Mother’s Journey, part of ITV1’s Real Life series, will be broadcast on Sunday night. Viewers will see Marsha at the Ramallah home of eight-year old Yasmin Rumeilah, a desperately ill little girl who was given a new lease of life after receiving Yoni’s kidney.
Recalling the emotional meeting last October at the family home just yards from Yasser Arafat’s compound, Marsha said: “Her mother and I hugged. It was a mixture of my loss and her gain mingling together. We both cried. It was the only time I cried in public during the filming.
"The father was so emotional he had to keep leaving the room. They treated me like the queen of England. They’re really grateful. Yasmin is very shy so we didn’t hug. But she keeps a picture of Yoni next to her bed. She calls him her brother.”
The family also keeps a large picture of Yoni superimposed next to Yasmin’s in the living room.
The documentary uses family photos, interviews and home movies to the tell the story of Marsha’s son who dreamed of becoming a doctor.
During two weeks of filming, Marsha revisited the spot of the fatal attack and met the doctors who worked fruitlessly to save Yoni’s life. She said they reaffirmed for her that there was nothing that could have been done to save him.
Marsha said she didn’t have the “guts” to revisit Yoni’s murder on her own, but the film handed her the opportunity. She said: “The production crew arranged all the visits and protected me. It was therapeutic.”
She was eager to participate in the hour-long documentary to help keep Yoni’s memory alive. “He’s lost forever, but people will now know a little about him. I wanted to have something tangible for the future to show my daughter and the children who will come along in the next generation.”
Though she hasn’t been in touch with the Rumeliahs since the meeting, Marsha hopes to reconnect with the family after the program airs.
“I hope my other children will meet them one day. I want my daughter and Yasmin, who are close in age, to be pen pals.”
A Mother’s Journey will be shown on Sunday at 10:45 on ITV1.
Joe
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